10/30/2015 – 63 players from 13 different countries participated in the World Disabled Championships 2015 which was won by the Russian IM Alexey Smirnov. The quality of the games played was pretty high and so was the level of organization. We have analysis, beautiful pictures by Karsten Wieland and videos by WGM Sabina Foisor, along with a suggestion which is worthy of consideration.
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Alexey Smirnov wins
World Disabled Championship 2015
“Winners never quit and quitters never win” – this quote
by Vince Lombardi is very apt for each and every participant at the World
Disabled Championships 2015 that were held in Dresden, Germany from the
18th to 24th of October 2015. The tournament attracted 63 players from 13
different countries. It was a seven round Swiss event which had an individual
tournament, with a separate team ranking. Apart from the title of the World
Disabled champion, there were also titles of the winner of braille section,
the deaf section and the physically disabled section at stake. In all these
categories gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded to the winners.
IM Alexey Smirnov from Russia won the overall
event with a score of 6.0/7
Smirnov, who is partially blind, started off the tournament with five wins.
Draws in the last two rounds secured him the sole first prize with a score
of 6.0/7, half a point ahead of his nearest rivals. The most crucial round
was the fifth one in which he took on Stanislav Babarykin. Both the players
were on 4.0/4, and the winner would have great chances to claim the title.
Alexey Smirnov was tactically alert and managed to win the game.
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Elo
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1.e4
1,186,706
54%
2421
---
1.d4
960,560
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
286,913
56%
2440
---
1.c4
185,115
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,902
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,609
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,959
48%
2376
---
1.Nc3
3,919
50%
2383
---
1.b4
1,791
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,252
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,081
49%
2409
---
1.d3
969
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
466
54%
2382
---
1.c3
439
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
93
66%
2506
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
Smirnov won the gold medal while Babarykin finished second to claim
the silver. Hence the duel between these two players in the fifth round
when both of them were on 4.0/4 was especially interesting.1.c4e52.d3Nc63.a3a54.Nc3Nf65.Nf3d56.cxd5Nxd57.e3g68.Be2Bg79.Qc20-010.0-0b611.Bd2Bb712.Rac1Nxc313.Bxc3Qe714.Rfd1Rfd815.Rb1Re816.b4axb417.axb4Rad818.b5
We have a normal
position from the reversed Sicilian. White is very comfortable in this
position and has just attacked the knight on c6. Babarykin doesn't really
have a good square for his knight apart from retreating it to a7 or b8.
But he had seen a combination and decided to go for it.18...Nd4?At first
sight this looks like a strong move, but it turns out to be a big blunder.19.exd4exd420.Bd2!Qxe2The bishop had to be taken but now...21.Re1!The queen is trapped.Bxf322.Rxe2Bxe223.f3The bishop
on e2 cannot be freed easily and White has a clear advantage.Re524.Re124.Qxc7±24...Ra8Black resigned at this point because if
White takes the pawn on c7, his position is already quite bad.1–0
Stanislav Babarykin lost his game against Smirnov
but scored 5.5 from the remaining
six games to clinch the silver medal
Here is one very nice combination played by Babarykin:
Sergej Wassen – Stanislav Babarykin, round
four
White has just played 21.Bb5, attacking the rook on
e8. How should Black respond?
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21...Bxf3!Babarykin was tactically alert and took his chance.22.Bxe8White
has to take the rook but Black has prepared some fireworks in the position.22.gxf3?Qh4-+22...Rg4! One of the many ways to win and also
the most thematic.22...Bxh2+23.Kxh2Qh4+24.Kg1Rg4was also winning.23.Bf7+Kxf723...Kh7is equally good.24.g3Qh4!The entire
point of the combination. The threat is Qxh2+ followed by Rh4 and Rh1#.
At the same time Qh3 is also threatened.25.Re5Bxe526.dxe5Qh327.Qc7+Kg6The checks come to an end and White resigned.0–1
Speaking of combinations, there is one game played by the bronze medal
winner Stanislav Mikheev which includes a nice little trap in the opening:
Piotr Dukaczewski – Stanislav Mikheev, round
five
In a normal hedgehog position White just played 9.f4?!
Mikheev was extremely alert
and took full advantage of this careless move by his opponent. Can you find
it?
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Position not in LiveBook
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1.Nf3Nf62.c4c53.Nc3e64.e4Nc65.Be2b66.0-0Bb77.d4cxd48.Nxd4d69.f4?!A careless move which puts White in grave difficulties
right out of the opening.9.Be39...Nxd4!10.Qxd4d5! Mikheev is as alert as ever. The threat of ...Bc5 nets him a pawn.11.Qe5Bd612.Qg5dxe4Black has won a crucial pawn and Stanislav's
technique was more than adequate.13.Be313.Qxg7?Rg814.Qh6Bc5+15.Kh1e3!16.Bf3e2!17.Nxe2Bxf318.gxf318.Rxf3Qd1+-+18...Qd3!-+The position is completely lost.13...0-014.Rad1h615.Qg3Qe716.a3Bc517.b4Bxe3+18.Qxe3Rfd819.Rc1Rac820.h3Rd721.Rc2Rcd822.Nb5Bc623.Nc3Qd624.Rd1Qb825.Ra1Rd426.a4e5!27.f5Qd628.c5bxc529.Nb5Qd730.Rxc5Nd531.Qg3Nf432.Bg4Bxb533.Rxe533.Rxb5Rd334.Qe1Qd4+35.Kh1h5-+33...Ne2+34.Bxe2Bxe235.b5Rd336.Qh4Qd4+0–1
IM Piotr Dukaczewski is a living legend. He has been four times blind world
champion and ten times Polish National Blind champion. He has won Poland
a medal at the Olympiad on four occasions – a Gold in the year 2004.
Apart from that he serves as president of the Association of Physical Culture
Sports and Tourism of the Blind and Partially Sighted, "Cross",
and Vice President of the International Chess Federation of the Blind. He
is also a board member of Polish Paralympic Committee.
World Champion Alexey Smirnov with his three
gold medals:
overall disabled world champion, best team and best blind player
The top three medal winners: Gold – Alexey Smirnov of Russia (center),
Silver – Stanislav Babarykin (left), Bronze – Stanislav Mikheev
(right) are flanked by Zbigniew Pilimon, IPCA President (extreme left) and
Lakhdar Mazouz, advisor to the FIDE President for chess development in Africa
(extreme right).
Best teams: IBCA from Russia in the background
(gold), Ukrainian team (silver) and IPCA from Russia (bronze)
Aleksandra Aleksandrova from Israel was adjudged
best woman player in the tournament. She scored 4.5/7.
Winners of the International Braille Chess
Association (IBCA) 2015 are greeted by GM Thomas Luther.
Gold – Alexey Smirnov (Russia), Silver – Stanislav Babrykin
(Russia), Bronze – Yuri Meshkov (Russia)
Winners of International Chess Committee of
the Deaf (ICCD) 2015: Gold – Vladimir
Kovalenko (Ukraine), Silver – Tomasz Miozga (Poland), Bronze –
Balazs Mate (Hungary)
Winners of the International Physically Disabled
Chess Association (IPCA) 2015:
Gold – Stanislav Mikheev (Russia), Silver – Andrei Gurbanov
(Israel), Bronze – Igor Yarmanov (Ukraine)
The tournament was held in the beautiful Wyndham
Garden Hotel
Little kids holding the flags of the participating
players from different nations
Dr. Dirk Jordan, the director of the tournament, who ensured that each
and every need of the participants would be fulfilled, and the players would
experience high class facilities which would enable them to focus on their
games. With his enthusiasm and unending energy he is leading a powerful
team of nearly 100 smart working chess lovers in the city of Dresden.
Here is one example of how the organizers tried to assist the players in
the best way they could. Shailesh Nerlikar (seen in the picture above) suffers
from 100% disability. The organizers provided him with an assistant for
all the games to make the moves that he would call out. You will know more
about Shailesh in an exclusive article soon to be published on our news
page.
Snehit Saraf was given a small desk where he
could keep his personal chess set and execute the moves
Sergey Tsapalin with his caretaker
The media coverage was also excellent. In the
picture you can see the crew
from Mitteldeutscher
Rundfunk (MDR) recording a short video.
Egmont Pönisch (right) was the chief arbiter.
Apart from doing a commendable job in the event, he also organized the first
FIDE course for arbiters especially designated for the needs of the disabled
chess players.
German GM Thomas Luther visited the event on
its first day.'
He is the head of the FIDE Commission for the disabled and has done important
work.
WGM Sabina Foisor did some exceptional work at the tournament. She not
only annotated top ten boards of every round but also made a video on the
best game of the day. Here’s the round seven video:
Lakhdar Mazouz of Algeria, advisor to the FIDE President for chess development
in Africa, was present at the closing ceremony. He pointed out that the
organization of such championships for disabled players is an immense step
forward in development of chess, not only for disabled players, but for
all other chess fans in general.
Bharat Singh, the CEO of All India Chess Federation
and the chairman of the
FIDE technical commission, inaugurates the round by making the first move
Yvonne Ledfuss, the PR officer of the ZMDI
chess festival and tournament manager of the WCCD 2015
Organizing such an event without a good team
is an impossible task!
All the pictures in this report were taken by Karsten Wieland. Dressed
in jeans and green polo shirt, for the first 15 minutes in every round he
worked as a photographer. Then he would change into a black suit and become
an arbiter, where he would solve problems faced by the participants.
The 2015 World disabled Championships was truly a congregation of the most
courageous chess players from all over the world. Players suffering from
various disabilities travelled thousands of kilometers to play the game
of chess with each other. It just shows how powerful and special chess really
is. It has the ability to change one’s life for the better. Dresden
and Dr. Dirk Jordan did a phenomenal work of organizing the event in 2013
and 2015. The city would be organizing the 2017 edition as well.
GM/IM title
There has been a huge debate whether separate titles (WIM/WGM) should
be kept for the women players. Whether we should keep these titles or not
is a completely different topic of debate. But if women players have easier
rules for achieving their titles, it definitely makes sense to have less
strenuous title requirements for the disabled people. They are surely at
a disadvantage as compared to a normal player. Every disabled chess player
above a certain percentage of disability can make his GM title if he achieves,
say, a rating of 2300. The specifics can be decided by a special committee
of FIDE. But I definitely think that this would be a positive step forward.
You can use ChessBase
or any of our Fritz
compatible chess programs to replay the games in PGN. You can also
download our free Playchess client, which will in addition give you
immediate access to the chess server Playchess.com.
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
Stephen, I believe you are missing the point. The current system allows women to be grandmaster while not performing as well as some men whose performance is not enough to become grandmasters. The article does not suggest that women have disadvantage against men. Instead, the article clearly explains that this is subject to debate. I tend to believe that women are not necessarily inferior to men when it comes to mental capacity, since this has not been proven up until now. The human brain is capable of doing so many things and chess is merely one of the possible mental activities.
When it comes to chess, one might tend to believe that women players are weakers, because every statistics and all ratings are suggesting that apart from a few exceptions, women tend to be weaker in chess than men. This is only an assumption, which was not scientifically proven. It might be true or false. Chess is not only about calculation, it has so many aspects and we do not know which subset of these aspects is the cause of men domination, at least, up until now. These aspects include, but are not limited to physical condition (men do not have "difficult days" and will not get pregnant, have different muscles and so on), cultural causes (chess is considered to be a men's sport in many regions, which is a predestination of more wide male side of the chess culture, which makes it more probable for men to be the best), aggressitivity (without aggression, a good player might draw a winning position or lose a drawing position) which is more a men's attribute, dedication and hard work at home and many more aspects. And yes, the very fact that one can be a "grandmaster" without being as good as people who never reach that title, or even "world champion" without being actually the best in the world predestines lower performance. Why would one work day and night on the openings, why would one spend a fortune for servers and seconds to get better if they are the "best" already?
I, for one understand those who say that men are better chess players, since they found this statement on statistical facts, but do not agree with this. I believe that statistics are leading to premature conclusions. Statistics should not end the debate: they should start it. Women might be weaker than men in chess, I do not know. If they are weaker in chess, that does not mean that they are mentally weaker. However, they might be mentally weaker than men. Who knows? In fact, these are interesting questions which should be researched. However, it is scientifically inaccurate to draw premature conclusions based on statistics, since in that case we are assuming that the pattern we see from the statistics lead to a formula, but we might ignore seemingly invalid factors, which are the cause of the pattern we see instead of those which we believe to be the causes.
So, while there is no proof that women are weaker in chess, we should not consider them to be weaker and we should give them utmost respect. I believe it is disrespectful towards women to allow them to become grandmasters or even world champions when the same titles for men require much better performances. The "WGM" title philosophically has the message that women are not as good as men and we should not expect the same from them to become grandmasters. The fact that there is a women's prize at tournaments comes from the assumption that women will not win the tournament anyway. These are disrespectful for women and these are injust with men. Many men are much better than the women's world champion, but they will never be crowned, while they are working much harder and performing much better. So, I believe there should be no women's titles until they are proven to be weaker.
The article suggests that if women get titles based upon weaker performances compared to men because of an assumption that women are weaker, then it logically implies to have separate titles for the disabled, who are provenly weaker in general.
stephen brady 10/30/2015 08:21
Wow, that last paragraph! I like the concept, but I am surprised at the comparison. To paraphrase, disabled people have a disadvantage similar to how women are at a disadvantage against men. Nigel Short may agree, but many people would not agree that women are inherently at a mental disadvantage.
Also, there are so many different levels and types of disabilities that I hardly think you could group every disability into one titular category. For example, being in a wheelchair versus lack of sight.
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